Why HR needs to take the lead on workplace mental health in 2022

It’s time to talk about mental health

There is a rallying call for dealing with a subject that should have long been included in your company’s mission, people strategy, leadership programme, and employee experience programmes. 

Mental health should have been a boardroom concern for multiple reasons, and now is the time to bring it to the boardroom table with a sense of urgency. 

In this short article, I ask: who in the organisation should be leading the discussion, and why is it too costly to ignore this issue?

HR & mental health in 2022

When asked which HR topics will be knocking on the boardroom doors for the next three years, I immediately think of these urgent problems:

• The gender pay gap
• Equality, diversity, and inclusion
• Sustainability and net zero 
• Digital transformation 
• Cyber security
• The talent gap
• Evidence-based management
• The unforeseen aftereffects of the COVID 19 pandemic
• And the new kid on the block, mental health in the workplace

Many of these issues are linked in some way, and all have a bearing on and are affected by mental health in the workplace.

How did we get here? HR and Covid-19

We have now been in and out of lockdown for almost two years, and we are just starting to realise the profound effect it has had on the working population.

From one day to another we were stuck at home, with no news when we could see family, friends, and colleagues again. In the flick of a switch, our world was turned upside down. It was incomprehensible and unprecedented.

This historic situation has exposed society to a considerable number of states and emotions, from acute depression and anxiety, to claustrophobia, aggression and suicidal thoughts. Mental health services were frequently withdrawn or unavailable. 

People lost their jobs, moved onto furlough schemes with little prospect of new job opportunities. We are still uncertain about the full damage lockdowns will have on our economies.

But amid the chaos, there were positives to be found. Many of us started working from home. This brought no daily commute, no excessive expenses, and casual clothes (sometimes pyjamas) instead of suits. With that also came a new level of intimacy. We were invited into each other’s living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms. Meetings were interrupted by children and pets, causing a smile and a reminding us how strange this all was and still is.

Without being too dramatic, we all came out of the Covid experience bruised and damaged. Being bruised and damaged means that part of the brain is not capable of bringing the workplace to full intellectual fruition, with creativity, innovation and performance. And it certainly reduces our appetite to enter the next company change initiative. 

It does not matter if you are a baby boomer, Generation Z or a Millennial, we all have been touched by the effects of Covid-19 and lockdown.

Workplaces also, naturally, include people who had mental health issues prior to the pandemic. Treatment was put on hold with little or no access to mental healthcare. Simply put, this group is now more vulnerable and in more need of our empathy and support at work.

Raising the bar for HR and mental health at work

If HR is to play a leading role in the boardroom discussion about organisational mental health programmes, it needs to prepare for a wide-ranging business discussion. 

This discussion must be driven and led by:

• Showing how the introduction of mental health programmes will solve, or reduce one or more of the problems on the C-Suite agenda

• A mental health dashboard to establish your current organisational state and to address the current estimated organisational costs related to the absence of a mental health programme (to establish your ROI)

• Connecting the introduction of mental health improvement programmes with increased longer-term profitability, underpinned by evidence-based management

• Preparing managers for supportive conversations with employees about their mental health. This will include new skill set development as part of your mental health programme

• Building an awareness strategy and communication vehicles to introduce the importance of mental health (a focus on mental health rather than mental illness)

“Mental health support is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s an integral piece of the culture puzzle when hiring talent and evolving in the new world of work”
Petra Velzeboer, CEO and founder of PVL

An appetite for necessary organisational change and improved employee engagement is necessary, so you should avoid using existing programmes to roll out your mental health programme. 

These existing programmes are not fit for purpose. Studies of workplace mental health recommend including the mental health programme in the existing health and safety programmes, or to include them in your employee assistance programmes. 

Previous programmes have usually been developed with a different purpose, focus, and outcome in mind. And more to the point, mental health would not be flashing on our radar right now if these programmes had dealt with this complex issue.

Cambridge MC is in partnership with mental health consultancy PVL to help raise awareness of the benefits, both holistic and financial, to mental health programmes at work. 

We are entering a new era of work, and these programmes will define those companies that become early champions and consequently attract and retain the best talent.

A free mental health at work webinar by Petra Velzeboer, CEO and founder of PVL

We are excited to announce a joint free webinar with PVL, a mental health consultancy founded by TEDx speaker and mental health advocate, Petra Velzeboer. This webinar is titled “Talent Retention in the New World of Work” and will take place at 2pm GMT on 10 February 2022. 

Sign up here

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